Rev David Robertson update

Was very moved by a recent update from David Robertson's son on his dad's health:

'An update on Dad: There hasn't been much said in the past few days because things haven't been going well. His sedation was increased on Sunday and they've had him asleep since then. The damage to his lungs is still severe and today mum was told by the doctors that it's 50/50 weather he'll live or die. I write this with great anguish and a heavy heart but not without hope. There is still a hope that he'll make it through this, but there is a better hope he has and we have. A hope that does not waver and is 100% certain. That is the hope of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus has already removed Dad's biggest problem, it's not the deterioration of his lungs but something more deadly... his sin. Christ has saved him from that. Tomorrow I go down with Becky to Dundee, knowing that this may be the last time I see my Dad... till Christ returns and "everything sad is made untrue."' 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14.

David is the minister of St Peter's Free Church Dundee and Chairman of Solas Centre for Public Christianity. Please pray for him and his family at this time.

One more look at Luther, from the sublime to the ridiculous

.
Sublime:



Serious:



Ridiculous:

Reform Begins- Part 2

Following on from Sola Scriptura, the assertion that Scripture holds the place of ultimate authority, came four more solas; sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus and soli Deo gloria.

Sola Gratia: (grace alone)

Here is the teaching that separates Christianity from all other religions and philosophies. Every other religion gives advice on how to live if you want to reach heaven\nirvana\fulfilment\happiness\enlightenment… ‘Do A B and C and you might just be able to earn it.’

I suspect most people think Christianity is another voice in that great assembly, preaching moral living that it’s particular God might be satisfied.  

But Christianity does not declare: ‘God is good, you be good and he’ll accept you.’

God is too good! And you have already failed. You’ll never earn it. You need grace. Not a combination of God’s grace and your goodness, grace alone welcomes us into God’s favour and presence.

When we have been accepted by God, as his much loved children we do good things. But it’s a grateful response from acceptance, not a pitiful plea for acceptance.

It’s all grace, all gift.

(It’s worth noting that there is another error common within the church today, to speak of grace as being nice and not judging other people. Well it may be nice to be nice, but grace is about forgiveness for sin.)

Sola fide (faith alone)

What is the means by which we lay hold of this great gift of grace? Is it automatic? Do I need to belong to a certain race, be born in a certain country, partake in certain religious rituals?

No, the gift of God’s grace is received by faith.

Not just believing that God exists, or just that he loves you. I would even go so far as to say not just believing in the sense of mental assent to the truth that Christ died for you.

But trusting, trusting in Jesus life and death and resurrection.

Solus Christus (Christ alone)

Which leads us to Solus Christus. Faith in Christ alone.

Faith in his life- without sin in our place.

Faith in his death- for sin in our place.

Faith in his resurrection- conquering sin in our place.

Someone has said that Jesus lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved to die, to secure for us the gift we could never afford!

Soli Deo Gloria

Justification (being made right with God) is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. Who then gets the credit, the glory? God alone!

Paul says in Ephesians 2:8-10:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-  not by works, so that no one can boast.

Salvation is gift- from start to finish. All gift, all grace. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone, not by good works or rites and rituals performed by the church on our behalf. That’s what Luther and the Reformers were willing to take their stand for, and I -for one- am glad they did.

Reform Begins- the monk & the mallot

Happy Reformation Day! On October 31 1517 Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the church door in Wittenberg. Its focus was on the teaching that led to the sale of indulgences, but behind the 95 points Luther made, lay a handful of convictions which would later become great slogans of the Reformation; Sola Scriptura, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)

Few in the Roman Catholic Church of Luther’s day would have suggested that the Bible was unimportant or irrelevant, however neither did it hold the place of ultimate authority. To suggest that the Bible alone served as that supreme authority was in turn to challenge the authority of the pope and the church. If Luther was right, their teachings and traditions would have to be tested against Scripture. Nailing his thesis to the church door would eventually lead Luther to stand before the diet of Worms (diet as in council and Worms as in the place- nothing to do with eating wee beasties) 4 years later and famously state:

Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.

For his own safety he was seized and locked away in a castle where he devoted himself to translating the Bible into German, that ordinary people might encounter this authoritative God-breathed Word.

The Church has changed much in 500 years, yet there is nothing new under the sun. This question of authority is as pertinent as ever. No one in evangelicalism would deny that the Bible is important, few would explicitly state it to be a subordinate authority (including, I would hope, Baptists- more on that soon) but when it comes to the crunch I’m not sure that we would all take our stand like Luther. We fear sounding outdated if we question the wisdom of our secular culture, or looking unloving if we challenge false teaching in the church, or missing out on some perceived happiness that we think could be ours if we sidestep the Bible’s authority over our own thoughts feelings and desires.

Have a listen to some contemporary Christian preaching, a read of some contemporary Christian books, consider carefully the role they give to Scripture and come to your own conclusion as to whether my assessment is overly pessimistic or not! Is Scripture the final authority or is that privileged position reserved for the speaker’s experience or the hearer’s demands?

Then examine your own reading of Scripture and the role it plays in your life. Is it your final authority, or are you?

Take-in!  ‘If our Bibles remain sitting on our shelves and studied only by academics, they might as well have remained in Latin and chained to pulpits’
(Burk Parsons) 

Live-out!  'Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.'
(James 1:22)

 Grow-up!  'Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked... his delight is in the law of the LORD,
    and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season  and whose leaf does not wither.'
(Psalm 1:1-3)
   

 This first ‘sola’ essentially laid the foundation for the remaining 4 (not to mention the Reformation itself) tomorrow I’ll reflect a little further on them.

Frogs and Lizards

I found this analogy from the Good Book Blog quite helpful, (not sure I'd have the courage to call the congregation 'lizards' from the pulpit of though!)

Evangelism is an intrinsic part of any healthy church. It’s part of gospel community. It shapes our gospel teaching. And perhaps it’s helpful to outline two potential approaches to evangelism a gospel-centered church can have: frog-centered, and lizard-centered.

FROGS AND LIZARDS

Frogs are very good at catching flies with their long tongues. They stay on their lily pad, waiting for that fly to come close.

Lizards are not so good at catching flies. But they move around. They see more flies, and some they catch.

There may be a lot of biology-related holes in this analogy (if there are, blame the Lausanne Conference for World Evangelisation 1989—that seems to be where it was first used). But it’s a helpful way of thinking about evangelism... 

A JOB FOR PROS?

Could it be that often we (consciously or subconsciously) think of evangelism as a job for the pros, the people who work for the church? They’re great at explaining and defending the gospel—they have long tongues!

Problem is, the pros don’t get around that much. They’re not in the workplaces; not at the school gates; not in the sports clubs. That’s where the lizards, the ordinary church members, are. They come into contact with a lot more flies (non-Christians) than the professionals.

Every day, the church membership can be seeking to evangelise far, far more people than the church leadership ever can—particularly in a time when cultural reasons for contact with church leaders... are fading.

Read the full article here.

Siri fae Scotland?

.
I must admit I was tempted by this:



Before remembering this:

Steve Jobs

The blogosphere is understandably full of reflection on the life, and death, of Steve Jobs. I want to direct your attention to two Christian responses to the statement he released in 2005 about his cancer diagnosis. Firstly, Adrian Warnock reflects positively on Job's call to live each day like it were your last. Secondly, Mike Anderson questions his assertion that death is to be viewed as 'a great invention', rather than our greatest enemy.